Tag: Scott Epstein

If you’re looking for something to do today besides watching football and pretending to enjoy the company of your annoying family, we got you covered.

The first episode of Eddie Bravo’s “Bravo & Company” web series, “Return of the Death Knuckle,” featuring a who’s who of the 10th Planet family tree including Joey Diaz, Renato Laranja and Scott Epstein is out, and we’ve got it here for your viewing pleasure.

So grab your iPhone and a bottle of bourbon, lock the bathroom door and spend the next 23 minutes watching this masterpiece.

As longtime supporters of independent MMA films like Driven, Once I was a Champion and Numb, we wanted to help out the producers of an upcoming short film get the word out about their unique and worthwhile project.

Erwann G. Marshall, who also produced the award-winning 22-minute short “Numb,” is following up his successful entry into MMA filmmaking with a six-minute featurette entitled “One More Round.” The film, which is dependant on donations and will star Scott Epstein in the lead role, is described as “a movie that explores a fighter’s mind as he enters the final round of the most important fight of his life.”

The goal for Marshall’s grassroots fundraising campaign for the film is $10,000 to cover the costs of the project.

So far, 18 backers have contributed $1,751 and with 39 days left in the money raising drive, he is asking for donations of as little as $1 to make his vision a reality.

If your jiu-jitsu association advocated the use of marijuana and its membership included video and movie producers, actors and musicians, wouldn’t you spend a Sunday hitting the bong and making an awesome movie trailer?

There’s no confirmation whether or not this movie, which features 10th Planet founder Eddie Bravo, his nemesis Renato Laranja and the voice of Scott Epstein, even exists or if the preview is just a clever ruse by the 10th PJJ faithful, but fingers crossed that it’s legit. According to Bravo, it’s an independent film called “Return of the Death Knuckle,” and it is indeed real.

MMA flick Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown got its DVD release last week, which means it’s time to find out if Todd Duffee’s Oscar buzz is legit. We sent CagePotato L.A. correspondent Scott Palmer to a ‘NBD2‘ media event at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu West L.A. earlier this month, where he spoke to director/star Michael Jai White and co-star and one of the film’s fight choreographer’s Scottie “Einstein” Epstein about the movie-making process. Some highlights and an incredible GIF of the thespian version of The Duffman in action are after the jump; for more killer flicks, check out the latest Sony Action Unleashed DVDs.

It’s Monday and most of our brains haven’t kicked into third gear yet, so we’ll make today’s technique a simple, yet effective one.

If you ever find yourself in side control during a roll, match or fight and are looking for a finishing move that doesn’t require a ton of energy or strenght to pull off, give this nifty little move demonstrated by 10th Planet black belt instructor Scott “Einstein” Epstein a try.

The world will have to wait a little longer for the big screen debuts of Todd Duffee, Lyoto Machida, Eddie Bravo and Scott Epstein.

Apparently the production company forNever Back Down 2, Baumgarten Management and Productions were unable to secure the backing of a major studio and as a result the sequel to the 2008 MMA-themed movie that grossed just south of $24,000,000 will be released straight to DVD September 13.

I didn’t know if this little anecdote was worth posting here, but since there has been a decent response to it, I figured the story would bring a smile to at least few faces on an otherwise uneventful Wednesday.

Last summer my club did a seminar with Scott Epstein and Chuck Liddell. Unfortunately, for reasons beyond my control, I didn’t get an interview with Chuck for CP, but I did get a chance to chat with him for a while during a break in the seminar. Since he is the most recognizable face in the sport and has been since my kids started understanding what MMA and the UFC were, they’ve always known who he was and were excited to know that “The Iceman” was making an appearance in our little town in Ontario, Canada.

Fast-forward almost a year and my (now) six-year-old daughter hands me her school journal to read yesterday and is quick to point out the unintentionally hilarious entry that details my meeting with Chuck.

If you’ve never watched any of the 10th Planet Mastering the System videos, you’re likely not familiar with Renato Laranja, who may or may not be a 27-time BJJ Mundials and capoeira champion and may possibly be made-up character who appears in the series. In a nutshell, Laranja is a BJJ black belt who has a cameo in nearly every episode in which he argues with Eddie Bravo about his no-gi system and seems to scrap with the Bravo faithful including Joe Rogan and Scott Epstein on a somewhat regular basis.

During a recent episode, Laranja "choked out" Bravo in an altercation that happened during one of Eddie’s classes at 10th Planet headquarters in L.A. The "incident" prompted Crispin Glover doppelganger and 10th Planet purple belt Matt Horwich to challenge the Brazilian to a fight in the episode above using way too many homosexual rape references for audience comfort.

As an added bonus, besides weekly marijuana tips courtesy of Bravo, Rogan appears on the show regularly in a Tae Kwon Do Joe segment in which he breaks down kicks used by fighters in recent fights.

I know what you’re thinking, "They’re making another Never Back Down movie?"

The answer is "yes," only this time around the studio is gearing the film towards MMA fans and not the popped collar American Eagle pink polo shirt sporting crowd of its predecessor, which earned $41-million at the box office.

They’ve made some steps in the right direction by hiring longtime martial arts practitioner Michael Jai White to direct this darker installment and to give it what he calls "more of a ‘The Dark Knight’ feel" and less of a "Melrose Place vibe." White knows first hand what that entails, considering he starred as mob boss Gambol in the acclaimed second film of the Chris Nolan helmed Batman franchise.

Also adding some credibility and substance to the film will be 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo, who will write part of the score for, star in and help choreograph fight scenes for the movie, UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee, who will play one of the fighters in the film and 10th Planet black belt instructor Scott Epstein, who will do double-duty as the movie’s lead as well as a fight coordinator.

Most recently, he was hand picked by Chuck Liddell to not only help him prepare for his UFC 115 comeback bout with Rich Franklin, but was also chosen by "The Iceman" to be one of his grappling coaches on Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter.